Ukraine and Russia react to leaked Szijjártó-Lavrov calls

"Disgusting, a disgrace" These are the words Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiha used to describe the leaked phone conversations between Hungarian Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, according to The Guardian. The Ukrainian Foreign Minister stated that "these are not conversations. This is obsequious reporting to Russian patrons. Disgusting, it is a disgrace, and it really should be subject to an investigation".

The Russians also reacted to the news of the leaked phone calls. According to the spokesperson for the Russian Foreign Ministry, the conversation between Péter Szijjártó and Sergey Lavrov proves that it is not the Russians who are interfering in other countries’ elections, but the West. Maria Zakharova spoke about this in a programme on the Russian radio station Sputnik.

Commenting on the telephone conversation between the two foreign ministers, Zakharova said she was pleased that it had been made public, as it allowed the whole world to see proof of Western interference in the Hungarian elections. In its report on the spokesperson’s statements, the Russian news agency TASS described the phone conversation as “alleged.”

The Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson also said that they have been listening to accusations about Russia interfering in other countries’ elections for ten years, but in her view, there has never been any evidence of this – and still, Russian diplomats were expelled, people were placed on sanctions lists, and Russian citizens were arrested.

Last week, Szabolcs Panyi, an investigative journalist for Direkt36 and VSquare, published a transcript of a 2020 phone conversation between Péter Szijjártó and Sergey Lavrov. On Tuesday, a consortium of investigative newspapers published the transcript and audio recording of another Szijjártó – Lavrov conversation, as well as Szijjártó’s conversations with other Russian government officials.

The Washington Post previously reported that Szijjártó regularly consults with Sergey Lavrov by phone during breaks in EU meetings to discuss what is happening there. Based on statements from several EU diplomats, Politico reported that EU decision-makers are considering to effectively exclude Hungary from sensitive negotiations because they fear the Hungarian government is leaking information to Russia.

Speaking on Tuesday about the conversations between Szijjártó and Lavrov, Hungarian opposition leader Péter Magyar said that “the Hungarian Criminal Code defines this as treason. And, incidentally, the prescribed punishment is imprisonment for life.”

Last week, Péter Szijjártó told Telex that he is not concerned about additional wiretaps of his telephone conversations being made public, and he does not think it is unusual for him to discuss what was said at EU meetings with representatives of other countries, including with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov: